Computer viruses can cause serious damage to your computers. Most viruses can duplicate themselves and cause different degrees of damage; from wiping out all data on your hard-drive to the disclosure of your personal data. Installing anti-virus software can ensure that your computer will be free from damage caused by known viruses. Most anti-virus software can scan a file whenever it is downloaded, uploaded, opened or saved.

There are millions of viruses created and spread throughout the Internet everyday. You need to remember to update your anti-virus software frequently with the latest virus definition packs, which can be downloaded from the developers of the software. Then, newly created, but already discovered, viruses cannot damage your computer.

If you receive e-mail from strangers which seem irrelevant to you, it is a good habit to routinely delete them. Be alert when opening any e-mail attachments, regardless of who sent them. Attachments, especially with file extensions of "EXE", "VB," or "JS," may contain computer viruses. Do not forward a document if you cannot ensure that the attachments are virus-free.

Real Case Scenario

"I Love You" Virus

The virus was first reported to have surfaced in Hong Kong, spreading through Microsoft Outlook e-mail systems. Users got an e-mail from someone they knew, asking them to check the attached file. The file was a simple Visual Basic script, which contained the virus payload. Due to a lack of knowledge of Internet security on the users' part, the "I Love You" virus caused serious damage. If the users had deleted the e-mail without opening the attachment, their computers would have been safe from harm. Once a computer was infected, the virus transmitted itself through the e-mail system using the user's Outlook address book.

Chat Rooms are Sources for Spammers

According to an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in November 2002, chat rooms, newsgroups, Web pages, free personal Web-page services, message boards and email service directories are the key sources of email addresses for spammers.

Nearly 100% of the email addresses posted in chat rooms are guaranteed to receive spam. The percentage for those posted in newsgroups and web pages are, respectively, 86% and 50% able to receive spam.

Even worse, email addresses posted to children's newsgroups are prone to receiving a large amount of adult content and work-at-home spam.

Teachers’ Corner

CESY Introduction for Teachers

There are many typical problems that students may encounter in cyberspace.

This section provides teachers with a reference for educating students in Cyber Ethics and also provides technical information about various security concerns in school computer networks.